Reclosable carton



Feb. 13, 1968 I H. ROCCAFORTE l ETAL 3,368,739

RECLOSABLE CARTON 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 10, 1967 [NVENTORS ROCCAFO E M. JORDAN I a If YWMM mm.

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5 Q2 ATTORNEYS V Feb. 13, 1968 H, 1. ROCCAFORTE ETAL 3,363,739

RECLOSABLE CARTON Filed March 10, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS #415?! J. KOCCAFO/FTE EL VERSE M. JORDAN hl/ZL/AM C. [AT/l arm-5M4 fk 2 M T OE S United States Patent 3,368,739 RECLOSABLE CARTON Harry I. Roccaforte, Chicago, and Elverse M. Jordan,

Wilmette, Ill., and William C. Inch, Whittier, Calif.,

assignors to Weyerhaeuser Company, Tacoma, Wash., a

corporation of Washington Filed Mar. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 622,233 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-51) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The reclosure section is divided by a transverse score line into a lower handle section and an upper body section which includes the reclosure tab.

Cross reference to related applications There are no related applications.

Background of the invention (1) Field of the inventi0n.This invention pertains to a carton having a reclosable cover. The reclosable feature requires a tab in the cover which inserts through an aperture in the underlying carton panel. The flap is sealed to the underlying panel and is opened along a pair of tear lines.

(2) Description of the prior art-It is known to use tear strips to open cartons and containers. It is also known to use a single tear strip to define a tab for reclosing a carton. This is shown by Iacke, US. Patent No. 3,243,- 098, Collura et al., US. Patent No. 3,263,899 and Design Patent No. 196,883. A common feature of each of these patents is the use of a single tear strip having the reclosable tab midway of the length of the tear strip. One edge of the tear strip defines the tab, and care is required when opening the carton so that the tear strip will rip around the tab without either ripping the tab or leaving sections of the tear strip adjacent the tab in place.

In the earlier patents, there is also the possibility that the tab must be totally out-out so that it will be fully defined when opened. However, a fully cut-out tab may curl or otherwise be damaged during processing. If this happens, it is useless for reclosing.

Summary This application discloses a device for opening and reclosing a carton. The device has a tab in an overlying flap that is inserted through an aperture in an underlying panel. The flap is divided by a pair of diagonal slit lines into a lower sealing section and an upper reclosure section. The tab is in the upper section. The sealing section is notched or divided adjacent the lower edge of the reclosure section. The reclosure flap has a transverse score line in alignment with the base of the reclosure tab which allows the lower portion of the reclosure flap to be bent outwardly to form a handle and aid in the reclosure.

There is no problem with the tab because it is not involved in the opening of the carton and it may be held in the plane of the reclosure flap until the handle section is bent upwardly.

3,368,739 Patented Feb. 13, 1968 Brief description of the drawings Description of the preferred embodiments The body of both the container, and the cover panel, or lid, and its end flaps have the same construction in both embodiments so the same reference numerals will be used for these elements throughout the description.

In each of the embodiments a blank 10 is divided by transverse score lines 11, 12 and 13 into a front panel 14, a bottom panel 15, a back panel 16 and a cover panel 17. The side edges of each of these panels are defined by a pair of longitudinal score lines 18. The score lines 18 also separate these panels from their associated end panels or end flaps. The end locking panels 19 are connected to the front panel 14 along the score lines 18; the end panels 20 are connected to the bottom panel 15 along the score lines 18; the end locking panels 21 are connected to the front panel 16 along the score lines 18; and the end flaps 22 are connected to the cover panel 17 along the score lines 18.

The blank is formed into the container by folding the blank around the various score lines. The container is held in shape by inserting the locking tabs 23 on the end locking panels 21 through the locking apertures or slits 24 in the locking panels 19. The locking flap 21 overlies the end section 25 of the locking flap 19 when the locking flaps are interlocked. The locking flaps also overlie the end panels 20 in the erected carton. In the preferred construction the end flaps 22 extend between the end panels 20 and the locking flaps.

A reclosure aperture 26 is in the upper central part of the front panel 14.

In each of the embodiments a front flap is attached to cover panel 17 along score line 27.

In FIGURES 1-3, the front flap 30 is divided by slits 31 into an upper reclosure panel 32 and lower sealing panels 33. The sealing panels 33 are adhered to the front panel 14 by glue, if a carton is coated with a thermoplastic material, by heat sealing the panels 33 to the front panel 14. The panels are divided by a space which is contiguous with the lower edge of panel 32. The container is opened by grasping the lower edge of the upper panel 32 and pulling upwards separating the upper panel from the sealing panels along the slits 31. A reclosure tab 34 is formed centrally of the upper panel. The base of the tab 34 is in alignment with the aperture 26 on the front panel so that the tab may be inserted into the aperture when reclosing the container. The upper panel 32 is divided into upper and lower sections 35 and 36, respectively, by a score line 37 which is substantially parallel to the score line 27 and aligned with the base of the tab 34. In reclosing, the lower section 36 is bent outwardly around the score line 37 and is used as a handle when inserting the tab 34 into the aperture 26. The bending action also breaks the tab 34 from the lower section 36.

In the modifications shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 the sealing panel 33a is unitary and has an aperture 38 adjacent to and contiguous with the lower edge of section 36. The other elements in the container are identical to the elements in the other embodiment.

3 The embodiments shown are illustrative only and the scope of the invention is inv the attached claim.

What is claimed is:

1. A carton closure comprising a first panel having an aperture therein,

a second panel overlying said first panel,

said second panel having a reclosure tab therein, said tab being in alignment with said aperture,

said second panel being hinged along one edge and sealed to said first panel along an edge opposite said hinged edge, said hinged edge and said sealed edge being on opposite sides of said aperture and said reclosure tab,

said sealed edge being divided from the rest of said second panel by slits which divide said panel into said sealed edge and a reclosure panel,

said tab being spaced from the lower edge of said reclosure panel,

a score line extending outwardly from the edge of the base of said tab to the side edge of said reclosure panel, said score line dividing said reclosure panel into 2. upper and lower section, said lower section being a rotatable handle section, said sealed edge has an aperture therein adjacent to and contiguous to the lower edge of said reclosure panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,004,697 10/ 1961 Stone 22951 3,235,167 2/ 1966 Svensson 2295l 3,270,946 9/ 1966 Redpath et a1 2295l DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner. 

